Best Buy, Indeed: Buy Modern Warfare 3, Get a Free HTC Phone

Provided you aren’t one of those people who paid $1,725 for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on eBay, you’re probably eagerly awaiting the game’s release on Tuesday. Those who buy it at Best Buy get a nice little bonus—a free HTC smartphone.

The catch? You’ll need to sign a two-year contract. Still, if you happen to need a phone anyway, this is a pretty sweet deal. Your options are the EVO 4G for Sprint Nextel, the Incredible 2 for Verizon and the Inspire 4G for AT&T (which Techland liked, considering its low price point).

Overall, these aren’t the most cutting-edge smartphones, but they’re still solid selections for the low, low price of $0 (with a two-year contract). CNET paints the move as Best Buy’s way of reminding people that, yes, it sells smartphones too—not a bad move seeing as how 70% of consumers go to carrier stores to buy their phones.

Oh yeah, and you get a game—one of the most anticipated ones of the year. You also get a free case and the Elite App, which gets you experience points you can spend on in-game goodies.

Best Buy isn’t the only one looking to entice Modern Warfare 3 buyers with deals; pre-order the digital download at Amazon and you’ll get $10 towards any other game download.

Why are retailers tripping over themselves trying to get you to buy this game from them? Maybe because it’s supposed to sell 16 million copies this year (as in the next couple of months), as well as an additional 8 million over 2012, according to Forbes.